It's A(n) (Un)Fair World
by tamadori
Summary: Marceline suddenly reappears after dropping off the face of the Earth after middle school. Bonnibel Bubblegum is not amused. Adventure Time High School AU.
1. start

**A/N:** hey. my best advice is to not take this fic too seriously as it draws inspiration from every bad romantic comedy set in high school ever made.

* * *

There are many things wrong with this situation, Bubblegum thinks. One of them is definitely the gangly teen standing beside their teacher, her feet touching the ground so slightly, it's almost as if she's floating. The other thing is, definitely, it being the middle of the school year but the float-y girl is just transferring in. The biggest problem Bubblegum had, though, was the identity of this girl. Marceline Abadeer, the only person in this world who has ever broken her heart.

The day started off great, being the popular Student Council President who is loved by everyone, teachers and students alike, can do that. Bubblegum, referred to as Princess Bubblegum, Princess or simply PB by all her peers, ever since elementary school when one of her classmates said she was as perfect as a princess, and the names stuck. She didn't mind, however, bless her parents, but she just hated the name Bonnibel.

Her day was going just great. She had obtained perfect scores on all her tests the day before, she was a genius after all. She was sure she was going to do the same again today. Her breakfast had been amazing, and she had an amazing chat with her parents before her Dad dropped her at school.

So when the bell rang for homeroom, Bonnibel was expecting her great day to continue. The moment her eyes landed on Marceline, however, her mood flew out the window. Marceline saw Bubblegum's eyes on her, causing her to smirk and wave lazily at her. Bubblegum rolled her eyes and focused on the pen she was spinning in her hand instead.

What was Marceline doing at a preppy, private high school with the uniform and everything like hers, anyways? If she remembered correctly, Marceline had once said she wouldn't be caught dead at a school like this.

"Class, give me your attention for a bit," said Steven Peppermint, their Physics and homeroom teacher. He was also the advisor of the Science Club, the only club Bubblegum attended religiously. "This is Marceline Abadeer. She was supposed to join us in September but due to special circumstances, she'll be joining us now in January instead. Please don't hesitate to help her get accustomed to this school."

He nudged Marceline and she stepped forward, the grin on her face from earlier still present. "Hey guys, I'm Marceline. We'll be stuck together for a while and whatever. Nice to meet you all, I guess." With that, he pointed to the empty seat beside Bubblegum.

"Umm, sir, that's LSP's seat!" shouted a student from the back. Bubblegum had never loved someone so much in her life. Mr. Peppermint had a different idea. "She's not here, is she? Then the seat isn't taken." Bubblegum saw red as Marceline walked over on the toes of her feet, barely making a sound. Marceline always walked like that, Bubblegum remembered.

Marceline unceremoniously dumped herself in the chair. "Hello Bonnibel." Bubblegum grumbled, Marceline and her parents were the only people in the world who called her Bonnibel. Her teachers simply opted for Bubblegum. Once upon a time, she found Marceline calling her Bonnibel endearing. Now, it grated on her nerves.

She looked over, Marceline hadn't changed much since she disappeared in the middle of the summer between their last year of middle school and after their first year of high school. Her hair was much longer but everything else remained the same. She still had those striking black eyes and the infuriating half-smirk that Bubblegum wished she found annoying instead of incredibly charming. Marceline cleared her throat, "See anything nice?" The pen Bubblegum was spinning flew out her hand and she averted her eyes from Marceline's which were communicating a thousand emotions, the most prevalent being amusement.

"Hey, Marceline," she replied, focusing her attention back on the pen. Or where her pen was supposed to be. She had almost forgotten it fell. Where had it gone? Right under Marceline's chair. Either, she had to crawl over to get it and receive a, knowing Marceline, provocative comment or ask the girl to pass it. She decided on the latter.

"Marceline, could you pass that pen for me?" Bubblegum asked, her voice small. Marceline comforted and intimidated her. It was the stupidest feeling ever.

"Sure, I guess." It didn't take long for the pen to be back in her possession after that. Marceline made sure to touch Bubblegum's hand as much as she could when she returned the pen. Bonnibel seemed to notice this and frowned at her. Marceline's ever-present smirk faltered a bit.

Bubblegum considered it a small achievement.

* * *

Finding out Marceline shared all of her classes, except one, was disheartening for Bubblegum. She was hoping that she would only have to see Marceline in their core classes: Math, Physics, English, and Literature. The world wasn't on her side, though. She had Marceline in Biology, Chemistry, History. The only time she didn't see Marceline was in Spanish. She didn't know what Marceline did instead. She didn't want to know.

Over the week, Marceline found herself in seats so close to Bubblegum, it was almost impressive. Marceline, with all her piercings (only a small pair of knobs in school, however) and pointed glares, scared most kids. Marceline assumed she forced the children out of the seats she wanted because Bubblegum was sure she would have known if those seats were empty.

Marceline always came up to sit near her with a big smile and a wave. Bubblegum felt it necessary to uphold her image, so she always waved back. Marceline's smile never did quite reach her eyes, though.

* * *

Avoiding Marceline came naturally after a while, though. She'd duck behind desks with such startling speed that she was sure she would be scouted by some athletic team after awhile. She was starting to receive weird looks but that didn't matter. Not having Marceline see and wave to her that often was her top priority.

What if she did end up walking into a stray locker once or twice? It was the locker's fault for being in her way.

Marceline didn't seem to pick up on the fact that she was being avoided, however. She still waved and smiled at Bubblegum when she saw her. Bubblegum was working on making Marceline seeing her impossible, though. The butterflies rampaging in her stomach whenever Marceline even breathed in her direction were getting out of control.

Being the incredibly busy president of Student Council did help her efforts at avoidance. She would start arriving to class late citing "oh, the usual Student Council business". It didn't give Marceline the chance to talk to her before class and she started just plopping down next to Marceline, facing the opposite direction all-throughout.

If Marceline noticed her strange behaviour, she didn't say a word.

Bubblegum had even started making herself scarce in the hallways, barely using her locker at all.

* * *

After about a week of complete avoidance of Marceline, Bubblegum took a chance and arrived early to class one day. Her teachers had started talking to her about her tardiness (they started after her first day of avoidance but she put off stopping for quite a while). Marceline came in and saw her sitting down, a weak smile appeared on her face.

Marceline stopped by her desk. "Hey," she supplied when Bubblegum looked up at her questioningly. Bubblegum didn't really have the facial muscles to overwork by constantly frowning at Marceline. Now, she kept her face straight. She loved it because it seemed to annoy Marceline to no Ed when she couldn't get a reaction out the princess.

"I think we may need to catch up or whatever." Marceline wasn't looking at anything in particular. Bubblegum thought she looked like she had rehearsed this or something. "What are you doing in Saturday?"

"You know me," Bubblegum started, "I'm always so busy." Marceline nodded as Bubblegum wet her lips, trying to decide whether or not it was a good idea to be alone with Marceline after all that happened between them.

Marceline looked about ready to walk off when Bubblegum finally spoke. "Yeah, sure," Bubblegum agreed, "Saturday would be an excellent day for me."

"Okay, come over to my house at 4 PM." Marceline handed over a piece of paper. Bubblegum assumed it was her address scrawled messily along the paper. She placed it in her notebook as Marceline sat in her desk, which was right behind Bubblegum's.

Saturday was going to be exciting, for sure.

* * *

Saturday came in a flash. Bubblegum after not really spending a good hour trying to find something to wear to Marceline's set out. She decided to walk because according to the paper, Marceline didn't live all that far away.

After a solid twenty minutes of walking, Bonnibel found herself found herself in front of a large house. Judging from the black exterior, it wasn't much of a guess that this was Marceline's house. She looked at her watch. She was ten minutes early. She decided to pace along the girl's driveway until she decided it was a reasonable time to ring the doorbell.

At 4:10, she walked up to the doorbell and rang it. Marceline popped open the door in a second. Bubblegum took in her tank top and casual shorts. She leaned on the doorframe, "Welcome to my humble abode." Marceline stepped back, gesturing Bubblegum to get inside. Bubblegum stepped in, adjusting her scarf. Marceline offered to take her scarf but she declined. Marceline's house wasn't exactly warm.

"Jeez, Marceline. No heater?" Bubblegum asked. She knew the answer, though. When they were younger, the cold didn't seem to bother Marceline at all. Bubblegum would be wrapped in layers of clothes but Marceline would be running around with just a light sweater on. Marceline didn't get too hot, either. It intrigued Bubblegum but she would never question it.

Marceline just looked behind her, "Oh, you know me." Bubblegum sighed. She did know Marceline well. Could she still say that? She only knew a younger Marceline well. That was before their epic falling out, too.

Marceline was behind her, pushing her up the grand staircase into a small foyer. Then, she took her by the wrist and led her down a long corridor to a bedroom. Bubblegum noticed that the interior layouts of their houses were very similar.

"Here we are," Marceline shoved her gently inside her room. The room was dark and that was Bubblegum's only opinion. Black tiles, black walls with an occasional splash of red. Even the comforter on her bed was a dark red and black plaid.

Marceline motioned to the bed. Bubblegum stepped fully into Marceline's room. It was slightly warmer than the rest of the house thanks to Marceline fiddling with the thermostat. Marceline took a seat on her bed right beside Bubblegum.

"Bonnibel, listen," Marceline looked down at her hands, which she was playing with, "I'm sorry about what happened with us. I wanted to apologize so badly, those two years I was away. But you kind of know, it wasn't completely my fault, wasn't it?"

Bubblegum looked up at the ceiling. She hated apologizing because usually, she was in the right, so she never did. When she did, it always sounded so insincere to her. "Marceline, you're so right." She shouldn't have let Marceline walk way so easily. She broke whatever they had off in a rage. When she looked back at it, it had been so stupid. She had called Marceline a stupid slacker. Marceline had called her out on her perfect façade and things had escalated quickly from there.

"I'm sorry. Marceline, I was just so angry that day. So, so angry." Bubblegum sighed, "I shouldn't have taken it out on you like that. I was out of line. I'm so very, completely sorry. Also, I'm sorry for avoiding you like that. When you just got to school, you probably needed a hand to learn the ropes and such."

Marceline looked at her, dumbfounded. "What? Is it strange for me to apologize?" Bubblegum inquired. Marceline fell back on her bed and let out a laugh.

"I've never heard you say 'sorry', before. Plus, I didn't even realize that you were avoiding me."

"Well, I've changed in those two years. So, have you, probably. I've certainly gotten better at stealth."

"I have changed. Guess we kind of have to turn over a new leaf," Marceline hummed, "Learn each other from bottom up again." She winked at Bubblegum.

"Friends?" Bubblegum's head swam with the implications of what Marceline had just said.

"Friends."


	2. level 2

"Marceline," Bubblegum sighed, "no eating in the classroom." Marceline looked up at Bubblegum. She was just really hungry and she had a sandwich in her bag and all the eating areas were just so far.

"But," Marceline said between gulps, "the classroom is right here." One, two, she nearly choked on the crust of her sandwich. On an impulse, she shoved the rest of the sandwich down her throat. This caused her to keel over her desk, coughing.

Bubblegum tried hard to keep back her laughter. "Alrighty, I won't write you up for breaking the rules. You seem to have learned your lesson."

Marceline barely managed to give the girl a thumbs-up. Bubblegum and her had managed to go from barely civil to friendly over the weekend. Marceline wouldn't admit it to anyone, so don't ask, but she actually missed Bubblegum a lot.

Maybe it was the playful banter or the easy way they could make conversation even though they were totally different. Bubblegum found her sense of humour appalling; Marceline just thought Bubblegum was a prude.

Bubblegum walked off and Marceline had time to focus on her notebook. She took the opportunity to knock herself on the head, "That was so uncool." It was true that Bubblegum still made her heart race. She made it race and race and race as if it was making up for the year she was gone.

Sure, she could admit she wasn't over Bubblegum. Part of her didn't ever want to get over her. However, there was no way she could act on her feelings again. Not after their breakup. It wrecked her friendship with Bubblegum and she couldn't wait to leave the town.

Her family had moved away for a year because of her Dad's new business deal. They came back, he bought a new house and car. Why? She didn't know.

Her old house had been a bit closer to Bubblegum's. She didn't miss it. She already saw enough of Bubblegum to make her heart burst at the school her father forced her to go to because he cares about her "future and junk".

Marceline couldn't wait for the school day to be done. She despised school, especially since there was no band. She guessed she could always form a band. Her awesome bass skills would attract members no problem. That's why she always walked around with her bass on her back. People were all like, "Excuse me, do you play the bass?"

And Marceline would be all like, "Hell yeah, man."

Needless to say, everyone knew she was a kick-ass bass player. Everyone important, anyway. She was so kick-ass that when she begged her father to turn this antique axe into a guitar, he did! She couldn't play it, though, it was way too heavy. She settled for just hanging it up in her room. She did ask her father to take it down before Bubblegum visited. The girl would call it "much too barbaric" and all that stuff.

Anyway, back on point. Marceline could get a bad in no time. Which is why she found herself with official permission "to start a school band" (it was also going to be her personal, rock star debut band). She put up a few audition sheets here and there. She decided she'd leave them for a good while.

Bam, she left them for only a few hours and there were amazingly...three signatures spread over different audition sheets. God damn! She expected like twenty. This was like so whatever.

She supposed she could take those three on. They had a superb eye for talent if they signed up so quickly. And, the day had just begun, by the time she were to have auditions (tomorrow at 4 PM), surely more people would sign up.

* * *

Turns out, more people did not sign up. Marceline had been on edge all day; bouncing tables, shoving nerds into lockers, storming past Bonnibel. When she saw that still-almost empty sign up list. She was eerily calm as she marched to the auditorium she had booked, not without threatening the science club that wanted some lame-ass expo to be held in it.

She waltzed up on stage where everything a band could ever need had been set up. Keyboards, amplifiers, drum sets and, a free smoke machine. The auditorium wasn't the only thing she got out of those science geeks. One by one, the prospective members came.

Keila, a pretty cool-looking chick in Marceline's opinion, on the guitar.

Guy, this scrawny, creepy looking-guy, again in Marceline's opinion, on the keyboard.

And Bongo (which couldn't possibly be his real name) on the drums.

With her standing just in front of the others as bass and lead vocalist, she felt in control. Maybe this rag-tag bunch of misfits wouldn't sound so bad when put together.

* * *

Turns out, they didn't sound terrible. When they agreed on a song to play, with Bongo beating a steady rhythm and Marceline laying down the bass complimenting Keila's swift and light notes with Guy weaving an intricate melody, the band wasn't half-bad.

Their official name: Only Outstanding Opportunities (OOO) Official High school Division Band

Their not so official name: Marceline and the Scream Queens.

Marceline had even managed to bag Bubblegum as their manager, not that they really needed one, through a series of very convincing texts.

(**Marceline (8:08 PM):** Bonnibel. You. Me. My band. You as Manager, cool?"

**Bubblegum (8:10 PM):** I'm going to have to do it anyway, right?

**Marceline (8:10 PM):** Affirmative.

**Bubblegum (8:13 PM):** :/)

This band thing was going to be quite excellent.

* * *

This band thing was going terribly. Marceline decided it was time to introduce the band to their manager. Most of them knew Bubblegum informally as their Student Council President. The introductions were going quite smoothly.

What did she not expect? Bubblegum and Guy falling in love on the spot. Or at least Guy fell into a serious unrequited crush on the spot, he practically peed himself. She couldn't get a handle on Bubblegum's feelings but hey! Bubblegum was hers, in the past at least.

Okay, she needed to stop thinking like this because she was starting to sound like the kind of crazy ex-girlfriend that ends up on Snapped or something.

She left for a few minutes to catch a breather after that sickening display and came back to find Guy all up in Bubblegum's space, grilling her about her interests and such. Bubblegum was just dancing around in the palm of his hand too, answering all his questions.

It was frankly disgusting. If Marceline hadn't known better, she would have said this was Bubblegum's plan to get her jealous so that she would storm up to her and claim her in front of everyone or something. Marceline knew that, however, all odds were saying that pink-haired (she still couldn't believe it was natural but she hadn't seen any hair dye or her roots grow out to be a different colour) girl was completely over her.

Marceline came up with a plan. The only way to get over someone even after a year of not seeing them was to just date someone twice as awesome. She was going to find the most awesome person in her fan club because apparently transferring mysteriously and being, in not only in her opinion, tall, dark, and beautiful, got her a lot of fans.

She knew her fan club met on the second floor in the classroom right next to where the Princess Bubblegum and across from where Finn and Jake fan club met. The Princess Bubblegum club was understandable but the Finn and Jake club scared her because Finn was her neighbour who just started middle school and Jake was his older stepbrother and also his dog. Yes, both his stepbrother and their dog were named Jake.

The reasoning behind it was complicated.

They got their fans through stopping at nothing to help a girl in trouble which seemed to happen a lot. Numerous girls in the club were "in love" with Finn but they were all noticeably older than him so they needed to stop that tomfoolery. It was creepy and, in the case of most of the seniors, bordering illegal. Jake, the stepbrother, was apparently fair game, being their star quarterback on the verge of graduation. He was dating this girl with the longest hair and the most highlights Marceline had ever seen. He even called her "Lady", it made Marceline sick to her stomach.

'Later, guys." Marceline put a playlist on, stuffed her earphones in and ducked out the auditorium which had become the band's meeting spot. If she hurried, she could make the last ten minutes of her fan club's meeting. She ran down the hallway and then took the stairs two at a time and before she knew it, she was throwing the door open to the classroom which held a good portion of her year.

She stepped in turning down her music by quite a bit. "Who wants a piece of this?" All the yelling started at once.

"ME!"

"MARCELINE, I WOULD GIVE MY RIGHT FOOT!"

"MARCELINE, PLEASE GIVE-"

Marceline decided to grab the calmest person and get the hell out of that room. The calmest person turned out to be a first year girl, with short, ginger hair. When one want to get over someone, they don't really hold themselves back and take what they get.

"Let me take you out Friday, friend," Marceline suggested. Only, it was an order masked by a suggestive tone.

"I don't really think so. I only came along because my friend didn't want to go to that club alone."

"Your name and number, then?" Marceline was getting kind of desperate here.

"You can get my name. It's Penny. As for my number, it's private." The girl walked away with a swish of her hair. Penny infuriated yet hooked Marceline.

* * *

Over the next week Marceline began seeing Penny all over the damn place while Bubblegum and Guy became practically inseparable. She'd go strike up a conversation with Penny, make the girl laugh once or twice then stalk off, looking for her band mates to confirm the gig that Bubblegum's Student Council connections got them.

It was at their school's Valentine's Dance. The one she knew for a fact that Guy was planning to ask Bubblegum to. She didn't care, though. By then, she'd definitely have Penny hanging all over her and she'd stop thinking about Bubblegum and her bubbly, no pun intended, personality and her long legs and the way long sleeve shirts fit her so well (Bubblegum and Marceline had taken to hanging out once a week to discuss band stuff now).

Marceline had to think fast. She had just messed up in the middle of a song, again.

"You okay, boss?" Keila asked. Marceline saw Guy waving to Bubblegum out the corner of her eye.

"Yeah. I'm just feeling really whatever, cool?"

"If you say so."

They decided to take the song from the top, again. Bubblegum gave Guy a thumbs-up and Marceline's hand fell straight off her fret board.

"Get your head in the game, Marceline," Bongo warns. This leads Keila and Guys to go into a weird cover of the High School Musical song. It's weirdly endearing when Keila does it. It makes Marceline hate Guy's guts. There is a stark difference in the way she's been treating Guy and the rest of the band and it makes her sick.

She can't stop, though. She sees Guy as a threat. It's her natural defences acting up with good reason. Guy is a freaking creeper and Bubblegum just doesn't see that.


	3. level 3

Bonnibel Bubblegum is in turmoil. Seeing Marceline all moody ever since she started hanging out with Guy, has filled her with a sense of guilt and yet extreme pleasure. It felt nice, knowing that the black-haired girl wasn't completely over her and it was obvious. On the other hand, she actually enjoyed Guy's company but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was using him to get to Marceline.

At first, when she started hanging out with Guy, it had been because of his personality. Now, it was all about making Marceline squirm. On a level, Bubblegum feels incredibly disgusted with herself. She also feels warm and fuzzy inside. Marceline still has feelings for her.

It hits her like a bag of bricks that she still isn't over Marceline at all if a little thing like this has her wanting to throw a million parties. Well, she didn't ever assume that she was over the girl in the first place.

Right now, Bubblegum is at the back row of some boring crime flick paying full attention to the screen when she knows that if it's really a date, she should be paying all her attention to the young man beside her. Bubblegum supposes she could have done worse than Guy. The boy is actually really cute if you like the young and rough look.

Now she's talking as if she and Guy are tethered or something and that is simply not the case. They've agreed to a strictly friendly date system where he takes her out, they both pay and they don't share any physical contact.

Bubblegum knows today is going to be challenging when Guy leans over in the middle of the movie and holds her hand, while looking her in the eyes. In a split second, his focus is back on the movie. Glob! She should have predicted this turn of events.

The movie drags on slowly and at the end, Guy takes her hand and leads her to his pick-up.

"Bubblegum, would you do me the honour of going to the Valentine's Dance with me?"

The world goes in slow motion for Bubblegum as she considers all the friendly ways she can turn down Guy without being mean. Then, she does what she refers to as The Stupid Thing. She (accidentally, it was an accident!) says, "Yes."

"Oh, gosh, Bubblegum, you've made me so happy!" Guy crushes her to him. Playing the role of the perfect gentleman, doesn't pull her in for a kiss or anything. This saves her from making excuses and she heaves a sigh. Guy mistakes it for one on contentment and brings her even closer to him.

* * *

Bubblegum walks up and down the school, multiple times a day. It's part of her patrol duties as part of the Student Council. Doubly so, as her position as President, makes her twice as busy as any regular Student Council member. She hasn't been forced to hold an absolutely compulsory meeting in a while. The Council practically runs itself.

She has to check uniforms and I.D.'s. It isn't a surprise when she runs into Marceline's pseudo-girlfriend, Penny. It's in that moment, that everything kind of comes full circle. She's heard about Penny from Marceline herself, and all the other members of the band that have had the pleasure to meet her.

She sees why Marceline has made sure the two never meet. She dislikes the girl on sight. She thinks it's the way she has way too many piercings to not be breaking school rules and the fact that her skirt is a good two inches too short. Of course, Marceline had also hidden the fact that the girl was a first year too well.

It shouldn't have been all that embarrassing, she and Marceline were just in their second-year.

"Princess Bubblegum," gasps Penny, "I am like your biggest fan."

"Is that so? That's wonderful," says Bubblegum as she takes out a slip of paper to issue Penny a warning.

"You're so nice and sweet. Everyone loves you." Penny is looking at the paper now.

"Here, take this," Bubblegum shoves the paper into Penny's hand. Penny gets happy, probably thinking it's some cool note or her number or something. Joke's on her.

"Marceline didn't think we'd get along," Penny chirps.

"Uh-huh," Bubblegum is almost curious about what this girl is saying at the mention of Marceline's name. Only almost.

Penny begins talking about parts of her and Marceline's relationship and Bubblegum holds back the urge to kindly tell her to shut up. Where does Penny even get the impression that she even cares?

"Sorry to cut our meeting short, but you know how it is, I have other things to Student Council Preside over." With that, Bubblegum walks as fast as she can from the general direction of Penny.

Marceline has gotten a pseudo-girlfriend. It finally hits her full-on. The girl has given up and has probably gotten over Bubblegum. Bubblegum kind of wants to cry.

* * *

Bubblegum goes to the auditorium because more often than not, there's some student in there playing calming music on an instrument. It's really eerie but she needs the calm about now. Her luck lines up with some astronomical body and she can't tell if it's good or bad but it is Marceline in that auditorium.

She is about to leave when it seems Marceline has spotted her and has called her over, "Hey, Bonni." Bubblegum walks over a bit weakly.

"Hello." Bubblegum can't help the tears that almost well in her eyes at the sight of Marceline.

"Heard Guy is taking you to the Dance. I haven't asked Penny yet, you know," Marceline is pacing around really lightly. It's with the same light steps that make you feel as if the girl is floating.

"Good luck," Bubblegum manages a small smile.

"Yeah," Marceline sighs, "I'll need it."

"Marceline, I've gotta go." Bubblegum takes the opportunity to turn around and walk to the door of the auditorium.

"Listen, Bonni, I, ah, goodbye." Marceline offers her a wave and then the girl is back to playing her instrument.

Bubblegum doesn't wait until the door closes before she runs off.

* * *

It's the day of the Dance and Guy has promised to pick her up. It's about 6 PM when he smoothly pulls up in her driveway. She requests that her parents don't come to meet Guy. They just aren't that serious yet.

Bubblegum holds up her long pink gown and Guy leans over to throw open the passenger side door for her.

She gets in the pick-up truck. Guy compliments her. She knows she shouldn't be imagining Marceline in his place but she does anyways and it's the most annoying thing ever.


	4. final

Marceline is nervous, she's been playing ball all day with Finn, Jake and Jake to get her mind off that Dance. She asked Penny, Penny had agreed. She not nervous about hanging with Penny because Penny is like her new best friend. It's the fact that she might not be able to fully control her temper when she sees Bubblegum with Guy. She is also nervous about the fact that this is the Scream Queen's first official gig and she can't even hold her bass properly.

Marceline is so happy that Finn has gotten over the crush on Bubblegum that the girl never hesitates to call cute. Yes, now she won't have to worry about thwarting Finn's attempt at the other girl.

"So, you're worried about blowing up at this Guy guy," jokes Finn.

"Yes, I don't want to like go ape on him in front of Bonnibel and everyone," Marceline throws the ball as hard as she can to Jake, the stepbrother.

"Here's a suggestion," he lobs the ball to Finn mid-sentence, "why don't you just man up and steal Bubblegum back and take her for yourself?"

"I just can't," Marceline catches the swift ball Finn has thrown her way, "we have history. The bad kind."

"Well, history is different from the past which is different from the future," Finn says, petting Jake, the dog, who has just returned with the ball in his mouth.

"Yeah," nods Jake, the stepbrother, "what Finn said. Just go with the flow."

* * *

That's how Marceline ended up dropping Finn and his girlfriend, Francesca Packard (called Fire Princess because of her flaming attitude), at the middle school's version of the Valentine's Dance with only that bit of advice. Jake decided to take his girlfriend to dinner first. Penny, who Marceline had picked up from her home, looked at them walk to the school from her seat in the passenger side, "Nice to be so young."

"Sure." Marceline drove off again, the Middle School Division wasn't very far. The schools were on the same campus, not even a five minute drive, but Marceline hated walking. Especially on those occasions where her Dad leant her the keys to his sweet ride. She smoothly manoeuvred her Dad's car to the High School Parking lot.

When she parked, she hopped out and then go Penny's door for her. Somehow, the girl had convinced her to wear this red and black tuxedo dress they found while shopping. It wasn't really her style but she'd wear anything as long as it was red and black. Penny was wearing what Marceline had first assumed to be a shirt but was soon told it was the girl's dress. The outfit was interesting, to say in the least.

* * *

They entered the auditorium which had been decked out in red and white, nothing really spectacular for a high school Valentine's Day Dance. Penny walked off somewhere as soon as they got in. Marceline had decided to arrive fashionably late and the band was due on stage in a few minutes.

"Pleasant evening," Marceline heard from behind her. There was only one person who spoke like that.

"Bonni, evening," Marceline replied.

"Good luck," Bubblegum pulled Marceline into a tight hug, "if you mess up, no more gigs for the Scream Queens."

"Thanks," Marceline laughs at Bubblegum's ears, "just leave it to me."

The set was awesome and a hit, they led the auditorium into a dancing frenzy. Even Guy had played extremely well, his shaggy hair slicked back with what looked like the entire tub of hair gel. Marceline had been surprised when she didn't accidentally stop playing when her eyes fell on Bubblegum, something she had become really good at practices.

Instead, she sang to Bubblegum, hoping the girl could feel her heart through the songs. They had even played an apology song, coupled with another singing about how much the singer loved their girl. Of course, they also played the classics.

"I'm not gonna teach your boyfriend how to dance with you," Marceline sang at Bubblegum. The girl clapped long with the rest of the crowd, seemingly oblivious to Marceline's singing to her.

They were met with such an enthusiastic reception that they were forced to play an encore. Finally, the band was allowed to leave the stage so they could enjoy the dance for themselves. Guy had hurried off to find Bubblegum first thing. Marceline rolled her eyes then looked for Penny.

The girl had been hanging at the punch bowl with a group of her friends.

"Awesome show," she greeted Marceline.

"Thanks. Wanna hit the dance floor?" Marceline had a quick cup of punch. Then she took Penny's hand and led her to the dance floor.

"I thought you'd never ask," Penny cooed.

* * *

The dance floor was packed and Penny took her chance and pulled all the stops on the dirty dancing. She was practically having clothed-sex with Marceline on the dance floor. Marceline, was having a hard time not pretending that every time her lips brushed Penny's neck was an accident.

She didn't have to pretend because it was actually an accident. The dance floor was too crowded, forcing Marceline and Penny to dance really closely. When the music stopped being something Penny could dirty dance to, the girl excused herself to go get some punch.

Marceline took this time to find Bubblegum on the dance floor. When she did, she was without Guy at her side.

"Fancy a dance?" Marceline took a chance. Bubblegum looked startled when she saw Marceline but didn't keep that look for long.

"Sure," the girl answered. Marceline placed her hands on Bubblegum's hip the instant she got permission and Bubblegum wrapped her arms around Marceline's neck.

"Listen, I need to talk to you-OUCH," Marceline shrieked, Bubblegum had stepped on her toe.

"So, sorry," Bubblegum whispered, "Where'd you want to talk?"

"Ouch," Bubblegum accidentally stepped on Marceline's toe yet again. "Follow me."

Marceline didn't have the vaguest clue where she was leading Bubblegum but she found the auditorium which was open. It was a miracle and a coincidence, Marceline mused.

They sat in silence for the longest time until Marceline decided to lighten up the atmosphere with a joke.

"Your dancing. Guess you aren't all that perfect after all." This led Bubblegum to sort of exploding.

"If I was perfect, I wouldn't have come to this dance with Guy, I would have come with you. If I was perfect we would have never had that stupid fight that day. If I was perfect, I would have gotten over you." The girl barely takes a minute to breathe between all these admissions. Now, she's staring at the floor, waiting patiently for Marceline to speak.

"Guess I'm not so perfect, either," Marceline croaks. She then leans over to Bubblegum and kisses her hard. It's gentle yet unrelenting and forceful at the same time. Marceline wishes she hadn't had to wait more than a year to be able to do that again.

* * *

Bubblegum and Marceline decide to dance together again. This attracts the attention of Guy and Penny.

"Would it be cliché if we were to dance together now?" Guy looks at Penny, his features a bit sad.

"Yeah, it would be." Penny dances with him anyway.


End file.
